Adobe Illustrator CC - Print Design for Beginners

A hands-on approach to creating engaging designs for print using Adobe Illustrator CC covering all of the basics.

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About This Course

Published 3/2016
English

Course Description

In this course we'll discover the fundamental tools and best practices that are crucial for your success in Adobe Illustrator. Our efforts will culminate with focus on real-world projects designed for printing.

We'll learn how to trace images, so that we can scale them to any size without losing quality. We'll also look at methods to obtain perfect symmetry when tracing mirrored objects. You'll also discover how to clean up your artwork with Compound Paths and Clipping Masks, which will help produce higher-quality deliverables for your clients.

We'll also learn how to avoid design mistakes by recognizing common areas that tend to trip up Graphic Designers. You'll realize the value in transforming, copying, and arranging existing elements in a project to improve your proficiency in Adobe Illustrator.

I've built this course with a strong focus on the core tools that are essential to Adobe Illustrator. In the beginning of the course, we'll look at setting up a new document, editing our art boards, and enabling a key setting that affects an object's outline.

We'll then take an in-depth look at the most commonly used tools in Illustrator. Pay close attention to the Pen Tool lectures - understanding this powerful tool will unlock your creative potential in Illustrator. After learning these tools, we'll discover the editing panels that help you fine-tune your designs. I'll then share with you some helpful tips and tricks that will make your creative life much simpler. Each of these sections conclude with a three-question quiz.

We'll finish this course by building real-world creative pieces including, posters, coupons, and business cards. You'll walk away with a firm foundation in Adobe Illustrator on which you can continue building your success as a Graphic Designer.

What are the requirements?

Students will need a copy of Adobe Illustrator CC installed. This can be the paid version or Adobe's 30 day trial. I will go through the process of installing Illustrator, but feel free to skip that lecture if you already have it.

My lectures take place on a Mac, but I give keyboard shortcuts for the PC, so everybody can benefit.

What am I going to get from this course?

create a project from scratch and understand the important aspects that need consideration from the beginning.

Curriculum

Jason Hill has been utilizing the powerful tools in Adobe Illustrator for over 6 years to create engaging print materials including advertisements, baby announcements, family photo collages, PDF forms, and much more. The majority of his work has been for a company called Which Wich, - a company based in Dallas, Texas that specializes in creating Superior Sandwiches. The materials that Jason has created for this company include promotional advertisements that are circulated in a variety of marketing channels, seasonal decorations that promote limited-time offerings, and permanently-mounted circular discs (called 'vibes') that are displayed in stores throughout the world to depict the energy and excitement associated with a particular location.

Jason also works full time as a system administrator for a major university in the western United States. This vast experience combined with his love for teaching others makes Jason an excellence source of knowledge to begin your journey as a graphic designer.

Using Adobe Illustrator to create detailed print graphics has become very popular among designers due to its powerful editing tools, fundamental use of layers, and various methods for exporting finished content. Increasingly, print shops are preferring content to be packed up for printing using Illustrator as the creation source.

Each lecture will demonstrate crucial aspects of a specific tool available for use, the intended use for the tool, and how to most efficiently leverage that tool for a stellar deliverable. As the course progresses, you'll learn how to use these tools in a proficient workflow that maximizes your time and efficiency. At the end of some lectures you'll have practice materials provided that you will be expected to use to practice the things you've learned. We'll put it all together at the end to create a few different design pieces that incorporates all of the material you've learned!

Jump into Adobe Illustrator CC and set up a new document using the Print profile and your choice of measurement units (inches, millimeters, points, etc.). Also, make sure you're working in CMYK mode with High (300 ppi) Raster Effects.

An art board is the visible space for you project. When you export a project as a PDF, for example, only elements that are on the art board(s) will appear in the PDF. An art board can be virtually any size you desire. Typically you will set the dimensions of the dartboard based on the size of the finished product; your client, a vendor, or a printing service may provide you with specific instructions for sizing the art boards.

The Selection Tool enables to you to select whole objects. You can click on individual objects to select them one at a time, or you can click and drag over multiple objects to select many at a time. The Direct Selection Tool enables you to select specific pieces of an object, typically anchor points that you can manipulate for fine-tuning your edits. You'll definitely use the Direct Selection Tool in conjunction with the Pen Tool (see the 'Pen Tool' and 'Pen Tool + & - Anchor Points' lectures).

Adding and removing anchor points on paths is an essential method to ensure you have the cleanest artwork in your project. Use the least amount of anchor points as possible when tracing objects or creating objects from scratch.

The line segment tool allows you to create perfectly straight lines. Hold down the shift key to constrain the lines to 45° angles. The other tools in this group make it easy to create arcs, spirals, rectangle grids, and polar grids.

The stroke panel is used to add outlines to your objects. Options in the stroke panel include the weight (how thick the outline is), end-caps (rounded or flat ends), corners (rounded, sharp, or beveled), and stroke alignment (inside / outside the perimeter, or riding the middle). The stroke panel also gives you options for dashed lines and arrows for the ends of line segments.

The gradient panel works in conjunction with the gradient tool. A gradient has at least two colors on opposite ends of a spectrum. The colors converge together to crate a fade. You can fade from one color to multiple colors and control the amount of fade easily with the panel settings and the gradient tool.

The Transform Panel enables you to specify the location of objects on the art board and edit the width and height for these objects. When operating this panel, pay close attention to the Reference Point map. The point that is selected on this map indicates the origin from which the edits will occur.

The Align Panel helps you precisely align objects to other objects on the art board, or to the art board itself. You can align objects based on the following reference points: left, horizontal middle, right, top, vertical middle, and bottom. The Align Panel also includes distribution tools that help you distribute object evenly on the art board or in a specified area.

Editing text in Adobe Illustrator is super powerful. The Character Panel has many settings that allow you to be as precise as needed when placing text on the art board. The Paragraph Panel has seven different options for you to select from when deciding how your text should flow.

The Swatches and Color Panels are integral to any design you'll do in Adobe Illustrator. Use the swatch panel select pre-defined colors, or swatches. Use the color panel to manually create custom colors.

The Transparency Panel allows you to edit the opacity of an object. 100% opacity is completely solid (opaque). 0% opacity is completely see-through (transparent). The Libraries Panel is a great place to store commonly used objects, like logos, mission statements, swatches, etc.

Compound Paths are used you when you want to remove a section of an object. Think of a doughnut with the center cut out. Without a compound path, you would have to change to color of the 'hole' to match the background that the doughnut rests on.

Adding images to Illustrator is very easy. Choose 'File' and then 'Place.' Select the image you want and then place it on the art board where you want. Pay close attention to the location of the image file in relation to your Illustrator. If you move the image file, you'll have to relink it in Illustrator, so that Illustrator knows where it is.

Tracing images is a very common task when you need to scale artwork, repair logos, or change the colors for illustrations. When tracing images, it is important to use the least amount of anchor as possible. I show you the proper techniques to ensure the greatest fidelity between your source file and your vector file.

When the left half is supposed to look identical to the right half, or the top half is supposed to look identical to the bottom half, you're better served to create only of the halves, copy it, reflect it, and then join the two halves to gather. I'll show you how to easily do this and save yourself a ton of time.

Automatic Tracing is often necessary to get quick results when tracing images; however, there are a few caveats to be aware of when using automatic tracing. We'll look at what works and what doesn't and how to clean up the artwork.

Clipping Masks are used when you want to remove a portion of a picture, but you don't want to actually edit the picture. It's kind of like cropping a picture, but you can be as specific as you want on what stays and what goes.

There are tons of resources available online. I'll show you how to search correctly for vector files that you can use in your projects. Beware, some files require payment, but so many are free. Chances are that you will always find something that you can use in your projects.

We'll look at creating a business card. There are severals things to take into consideration when designing a business card, but there is also a lot of leeway as you can be as creative as you want when creating business cards. I've provide the source file that includes my business logo. Please only use it for learning purposes. Thanks!

In this lecture, I'll show you have to use barcodes on coupons. You can create many different types of barcodes, but always grab the .eps file for the one you use. The website that I use to create barcodes is http://www.terryburton.co.uk/barcodewriter/generator/

Barcodes should be used in conjunction with some sort of method to track the use of them. Typically, your client will provide you with the number you will use to create a barcode.

In this lecture I show you how to create a poster with a QR Code. QR Codes are popular in getting instant interaction with people. They're also incredibly easily to incorporate into any of your artwork. I use the following website to create QR Codes: http://goqr.me

Forms are everywhere, and too many of them are just terrible to look at, let alone actually fill out. I show you what to consider when creating forms, so that you can create your own that look terrific. Always keep the experience of the end user in mind when creating forms.

Sometimes you can export your artwork as .jpg or .png file and send it to a printer. Other times, you'll have to send the original files (.ai or .eps files) and all of your assets to the printer. This latter method requires a little more work.

Having your backgrounds fall off of the art board can actually be a good thing. When your sending source files to printer, they'll often print the portion of the canvas around the art board and then cut the print to the exact dimensions of the art board. this is so you don't have white edges. Bleeds are essential in these cases.

Some times it's better to be safe than sorry. Placement of objects on the art board is one of those times. A Safe Area is the area on the art board that the printer guarantees will be printed in whole, meaning when they cut it out, they don't cut into your artwork. Typically, you want to place all important artwork at least an 1/8th of inch inside the bounds of the art board.

Congratulations on finishing this course! I know that learning a new technology can be difficult and frustrating at times, but if you stick to it and practice, Illustrator will soon become second nature.

Look for opportunities that will give you exposure to Illustrator. Do you know somebody that will be graduating soon, or getting married, or having a baby? Offer to do their announcements, and create a truly memorable work of art for them. Feel free to refer back to these videos as often as you'd like.

Again, Congratulations! And THANK YOU!

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Instructor Biography

In January 2010, Jason landed an opportunity to work as Freelance Graphic Designer for Which Wich, Inc., a premier restaurant chain based out of Dallas, TX. In the years that have followed, Jason has designed the graphics for hundreds of "Vibes," circular graphics that are printed on magnetic material, mounted on metal plates, and then displayed on the walls of their locations throughout the world. Jason has also made a significant contribution to the marketing department of Which Wich by assisting in the creation of all types of advertisements and in-store graphics. Adobe Illustrator CC has been the tool of choice for Jason in all of his creative endeavors. Jason also enjoys creating many different types of print materials including baby announcement, flyers, forms, business cards, and research posters.

Jason graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Digital Media in 2008 and a Master of Business Administration in 2014.